


The Cookie Space Ship

by Bunnylover34



Series: Stark in the Stars [2]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: And walkman, Arc Reactor Issues, Gasp! Space, Gen, Hand wavy science, I really do research though, Peter is protective of his music, Rocket is impressed, Starts at the end of the Battle for New York, Tags May Change, Terrans are smarter than the galaxy believes, Tony is bad at naming things, Tony's space suits, no one can touch the walkman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-18 04:32:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13674339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bunnylover34/pseuds/Bunnylover34
Summary: The portal closes before Tony can fall back through.  As a result Tony is stuck in space.  Thank goodness he was wearing his space suit that day.  Really though he should get his Arc Reactor fixed before it gives out on him.OrTony is found by the guardians and they have awesome space adventures.





	1. The Portal

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoy the second installment of Stark in the Stars! Please tell me if you notice anything in the story that doesn't make sense! Or anything that could make the story better.

     It has seen the future or at least glimpses of multiple ones.  One common theme that ran through them was its destruction of other worlds.  The killing of millions of creatures.   Smart or not it didn’t matter, they would be gone and it would be all its fault.

     It HATES being used.  Like it was a simple weapon that could be used.  No, it wouldn’t accept this.  It wouldn’t be used by another galactic dictator wannabe.  
Thankfully it has been in the possession of the director (it was adorable really that he thought he could create a weapon out of it).  A couple of mind pokes later and the man was paranoid enough to look through the inventor's computer.  It made sure he would only look through the files necessary to inspire the genius.  
     When it finally saw the genius in person, it hummed in satisfaction.  The inventor had performed beautifully.  The suit was capable of traveling in space for multiple hours at a time, battle ready, and would be able to take this earthling far from here.  
Pff… Civil war… yeah, that’s not happening.  Not if it had a say about that.

~~

    The plan itself was simple. Sneak into the tower, go to his armory, get the BioSuit on, pull clothes on top, and speak to Loki.  Simple.  Getting into the tower wasn’t that hard, all Tony needed to do was go through the bottom entrance.  Getting there in decent amount time, however, was another thing.  In order for Loki not to see him arrive, Tony had to walk in rather than fly.

     “Jarvis, how is the suit coming?” Tony said while weaving around some pedestrians with ease.

     “The suit is nearly ready, and the BioSuit can be put on right when you walk through the door” The AI’s voice informed him.  
Tony grinned at the thought of one of his newest suits. Pepper had walked in on him once when he had tried it on.  The look on her face had been priceless.

    Two weeks earlier…  
    The sun filtered through the fogged glass, lighting up the floor in bright yellow beams.  Littered on the floor are bits of fabric, white with little grooves running throughout the cloth.  Tables in the room are littered with threads of string and little pieces of machinery.  In the middle of the room stood Tony holding out a white garment smiling widely.

    “Truly spectacular work sir” Jarvis sounded from the ceiling.

    “I'm going to go try it on” Tony bounced on his toes a bit and made for the bathroom.

    “Sir, may I remind you that Ms. Potts has a meeting for you to attend in five minutes?

    Tony waved him off and shut the door of the bathroom.  He stripped quickly and pulled on the white bodysuit.  Looking into the mirror Tony examined the suit for any flaws. Satisfied with the quality of the suit he pressed a series of buttons and the suit compressed.  The suit fit like a second skin and, with a few manual adjustments, was pretty comfortable. It was like receiving the world’s best hug.  
     Smiling at his genius, he stepped out and struck a pose.

     “Jarvis, how does it look?”

     It is then Pepper decided to storm into his lab.  Before she could even start to lecture him about missing the meeting she saw the view of Tony’s ass on full display.

    “It has the added bonus of showing off your physic sir,” Jarvis added quite helpfully.

    “Tony, what in the world are you wearing?!” Pepper’s face is doing a fantastic impression of a tomato.

    “You like it? It's my space suit” Tony turned around, smirking at her red face.

    Pepper stood there for a couple of seconds mouth pulling into a tight frown.

    “Put on some clothes Mr. Stark.”

    She walked out heels clicking rhythmically against the concert.  She didn’t even want to know why Tony is building a space suit.

    Snapping back to the task at hand Tony grabbed the handle to the secret door in the side of Stark Tower and walked inside.   After a quick trip up the private elevator, he walked into his armory. Like promised the BioSuit is on the table waiting for him.  Putting it on quickly Tony headed up to the penthouse.  It was time to give reindeer games a show.

~~

    Salt water sprayed right behind Tony as he guided the nuclear bomb away from the harbor towards Stark Tower.  The suit holding the missile is black with bright gold and red highlights scattered throughout the slight gaps in the outside paneling.  Clunker than the usual suits that Tony designed, being twice the size of his normal suits, it made maneuvering the nuc a touch hard.

    “Jarvis call Pepper.”

    Tony had that nasty feeling that this latest stunt is going to take a little longer to sort out than the others.  A picture of Pepper popped up in the corner of his screen and he allowed himself a second to gaze at it.  He has no idea what is going to happen when he goes through the portal.  Would he be transported to the other side of the universe? How would he get back, would he even get back?  Sure this world doesn’t love him, and he isn’t naive enough to think that, but it's his.  This is the only place that he knows.

    “Stark you know that is a one-way trip”

    Was it?  Is this how his life ends.  Him flying through the portal, his suit becoming his coffin.  
    He guides the rocket up, scraping the building briefly before moving away slightly.  The portal is a yawning hole before him.  Time seemed to slow, and aliens fly past in a slow crawl.  The rest of the world falls away and all that is left is the blue and black mass in the sky.  God, he didn’t think his life would end like this.  Tony always thought that his life would end somewhere in his lab.  One experiment took too far.  He would push the laws of the universe too hard and it would fire back at him.

    He has so many mistakes he had yet to fix.  So many past regrets that he never got over.  Pepper.  He never regrets inviting her into his life.  He never wanted her to be the one to mourn him when he finally kicked the bucket.  Not that he ever thought he would live longer than her.  His job is too dangerous for that to be a sensible thought.  
    His bots. Dummy, You, Butterfingers.  He hoped that they would survive after his death.  He had no doubt that Rhodey would take care of them.  He hoped that they wouldn’t miss their creator too much.  
    Jarvis.

     “Jarvis” Tony choked out, the call wasn’t going to go through.

     “Yes, sir”

     “Tell Pepper I… I never regret any moment with her,” Close enough.

      “Of course sir”

     Jarvis, his favorite person.  Both the man and AI.  He wouldn’t be here without either of them.  His childhood would have been a Shakespearean tragedy.  One of the ones that laminated on about life and death.  Forbidden love and interests.  Child genius wants to build robots and AIs.  His Shrewd father wants him to build weapons.  
     In a way, his father is going to kill him.  Here he is carrying a nuclear bomb into a gateway to another world.  Howard was apart of the Manhattan project.  He invented the technology Tony is holding, guiding into the portal above.

     Maybe he could let go.

     It wasn’t too late.

     He wouldn’t have to cross into the portal, just the missile.  Could Tony risk it?  Would the missile go into the portal without his help?  Who is to say that once he let go the missile would just head back to its original target.  The number of people who could be lost would be astronomical.

     No.  It wasn’t worth it.  He wasn’t worth millions of lives.

     The portal is only a hundred feet away now.  He could feel the sheer amount of energy emanating from the bright circle.  It made his hair stand on end and goosebumps rise on his neck.  Gulping slightly he closed his eyes and felt the energy surround him, buzzing through his bones all the way to his toes.  Everything is a fuzzy hum, and his hands loosen.  He felt the scrape of metal on metal as the missile pulled away.  Tony thought distantly that he should have been able to hear that.  All he could hear is the instant bees in his ears, his pounding heart, and Pepper screaming his name.

     The world didn’t exist at this moment.  All Tony could feel is buzzing, humming, and shaking of his bones.  Just when Tony thought it couldn’t get worse a force before him snapped his head back.  Ribbons tied around his stomach and pulled as if they are trying to push every continent in it out.  Opening his eyes briefly, Tony saw a glimpse of angry red and orange before the world went black again.


	2. Broken Glass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may feel a little fast, it's a little hard writing about a guy with limited mobility in space. Sorry for this being a month after the first post. While I hate writing essays they still need to be done. 
> 
> Edit: I fixed some things in this chapter. Nothing plot changing, just a few sentences here and a few words there. Hope this makes the chapter easier to understand! Enjoy!

     Tony wakes with a start, smacking his head on his faceplate.  Gasping he opens his eyes to see a large expanse of black surrounding him.  His breath starts to catch in his throat and he struggles to breathe. Everything's dark with only the dim light from his helmet to fight it. His pulse starts to quicken to frightening speeds.  Nothing was around. No portal, no mothership. Nothing. He is alone in space with nothing around. Not even- Jarvis!

     “JARVIS!”

     Nothing no reply.

     “JARVIS”

…

     “JARVIS!!!!”

     Oh god, he is stuck in space without Jarvis.  Why isn’t he on? Why isn’t he here? Why isn’t he speaking calming tones into Tony’s ears?  He NEEDS Jarvis.

     “Jarvis unmute, Jarvis”

     Not even a beep was heard.

     “JARvi-” Tony coughs, throat dry and itchy.

     Tony knows it is futile to call for any longer.  Jarvis is off and will not answer him. Despite that he yells out, voice steadily becoming as scratchy as a cat lady’s couch.  

     “Jarvis, please!  Answer me!”

     Accepting that Jarvis is gone means accepting that he is alone in space.  It means he is out here without the one person in the world he trusts fully.  

     “No no no… Jarvis! God dammit answer me!”

     “Just… answer...me”  He can’t speak anymore, throat too dry to speak without pain.

     Tony forced himself to take deep breaths.  Jarvis wouldn’t want him to lose his voice doing illogical things.  He needs to fix Jarvis, not yell until he couldn’t talk. Calming down a bit he looks around a little better.  Okay no, there still wasn’t anything- wait there. What looked like a small rock passed by in a quick flash. It’s gone before Tony could examine it closer.  Another couple flew past, illuminated by the flickering arc reactor in his chest. Flickering arc reactor. Chest. A pounding headache made it hard to think.  Chest, his chest hurt like Dummy had run into him fleeing from the creepy crawly death dealer. What was Tony thinking about again?

     Right flickering arc reactors.  Arc reactor equals power source.  Power source- Tony flicked his eyes to the red beeping light in the corner of his screen. Power at 20%.  His lungs started to constrict again. Breathable air 27%. Helmet integrity 67%. Numbers started to blur together, his vision starting to wobble.  He let out a hysterical laugh that catches slightly in his chest. He is going to die alone in space. He giggled for a while. Sniffing on occasion.  After a while, he wasn’t giggling anymore.

“Ping!”

    Tony looks up from his not-giggling.  On the screen read ‘Scan successful, Planet found’.  He almost starts again. Thankfully a couple more scans find that the planet isn’t too far from his position.  Problem is he isn’t angled properly and he is going to speed past the planet only brushing the atmosphere. He could use his repulsors to realine, but the power is currently reserved for life support.  Dang, this is really feeling like Apollo 13.

    Taking in another slightly calming breath he reviews his options.  He could divert the power not needed in keeping him alive to get enough power to adjust his position. He could seal off the helmet from the rest of the suit and take the rest of the air out of the body of the suit.  His body is actively being protected from the dangers of the vacuum of space with his Biotech suit. He doesn't need the air to keep him safe, it is a comfort, not a necessity to have air in the body of the suit. It wasn’t like the heat in his body could leave without a medium for it to escape to.  With energy not being spent on heating the air, he would have enough to change his trajectory and land somewhat safely.

    With the power and air diverted he starts adjusting his position.  Finally, in position, he begins turning off all power not related to the air in his helmet.  With the last light disappearing, he found himself hoping it wouldn’t be the last light he would see.  

 

~~

 

    Tony wasn’t a huge fan of the darkness before Afghanistan.  Many nights as a kid were spent clutching a hard metal flashlight fearful of the things he couldn’t see.  His dad wouldn’t allow him to have a simple night light stating he was too old for such things. Thankfully Jarvis had given him a flashlight or he would have become an insomniac much sooner than he had.  He thought he had grown out of the fear but Afghanistan just solidified it.

    Darkness is where many fears were born.  Where things can hide, attack him without his notice.  It is repressing, it chokes him. It drags him to the deepest ends of the earth and holds him hostage.  Every stress, every bad emotion he ever had, rears its ugly head and he is left with the horrible things only the dark can bring.   

    So yeah… he would rather avoid the dark.  

    But since life doesn't go his way all the time, he is stuck in his suit in the middle of space with no light.  It is hard for him to avoid panicking or, heaven forbids, start hyperventilating.

    Tony really wishes he had Jarvis right now.

 

~~

 

     Tony has never been happier to see a planet than he has right now.  Even the excitement of finding life on another planet and making contact with them was nothing compared to the joy he felt now.  The planet itself was very pretty to look at. Baby blue covered most of the planet with dark blue spots freckling the surface now and again.  Veins of dark red and orange ran along the surface. Light purple clumped around these veins and seemed to glow like city lights. As he got closer he could see thick clouds roll over the surface of the planet.

     He was almost out of air when he broke through the atmosphere.  The temperature in the suit started to rise as he encountered resistance from the air.  Pressure starts to increase and Tony is left hoping that this landing won’t kill him via heart attack.  Soon he far enough in where he starts to encounter clouds.

     Thunk!

     What Tony had previously assumed was normal water clouds apparently had ice in them.  

     Thunk!

    What sounded life glass repeatedly breaking could be heard just outside the suit.  It reminded him off when his father would drop his tumblers. Too drunk for a proper grip, they would fall in one big SMASH!   Amber filled the edges his vision, faintly he noted that the world around him lit up.

     9%

     The liquid got closer to the ground.

     8%

     7%

     Howard’s yell filled his ears.

     6%

     He raised an arm.

     5%

     4%

     3%

     2%-  As Howard's hand touches his cheek the world goes black.

 

  

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, you like the chapter! If you have any suggestions on how this chapter could be better or if there are some grammar errors could you let me know in the comments? I want to improve my writing and your suggestions would be a big help with that. Thanks! Have a good rest of your day!


	3. Wonka River

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops... this is 24 days later than I originally planned.

     Tony feels warm.  The type of warmth that made it hard to get up in the morning.  He would be curled up in blankets with Pepper tucked into his chest. It’s strange, Pepper’s warmth isn’t here.

     “She probably just got up earlier and left you to sleep in,” the tiny voice of reason in his head says, “She has done that before.”

     Humming in agreement Tony wiggled in place, intending to snuggle farther into the mattress. He is faintly informed of a faint snapping noise above him.

     As Tony slowly wakes up he becomes aware of the humid air being blown in his face. Frowning he turns his head to the side. Unfortunately, this does nothing. Hot oxygen continues to blow in his face making it hard to breathe. Pounding in his head begs for his attention. What did he drink last night? He doesn’t remember drinking last night. His chest twinges uncomfortably. Did he get kidnapped?He tries opening his eyes and immediately regrets everything when the sun decides to stab him in his retinas. With Pitchforks. Laced with poison and fire.Groaning, he squeezes his eyes shut. Opening his mouth Tony tries to call out to Jarvis. Only he makes a weird rasping “Jarv-” and something wet drops into his throat.He swallows on reflex and jolts forward. Instead of sitting upright in a nice stable bed though, Tony finds himself falling forward into the open air. All too soon he hits the unforgiving ground and something heavy falls on his back.

     Baffled Tony lay there for a bit trying to understand how he got himself into this situation. Nothing came to mind on how he ended up in a hot, humid… where is he? Opening his eyes Tony holds back the urge to vomit and looks around. It looks like a jungle, though not any jungle he has seen before. The foliage around him is a muted purple. Vines hang from the trees with a few golden ones popping up now and again. Where on Earth is he? Gathering his strength Tony pushes his arms under himself and, with weak limbs, rises to his knees. Letting out a heavy breath, he twists his head trying to figure out where the heck he is. He would have remembered seeing pictures of a place like this. The plants alone would have made Animal Planet’s ‘The earth’s most alien habitats.’

     So far he couldn’t recognize anything. The trunks of the trees are in odd braids of eight, the leaves extend in thick clumps barely letting the sun shine through.Surprisingly the low light on the ground didn’t stop plants from growing. Large bushes ascend from the dirt with large dark purple leaves. Many of these leaves had pale golden dots lining them.Tony wasn’t sure if it’s the leaf itself or some sort of liquid. Most of the vines hanging from the trees are a light grey color, which is odd in itself, but some shine a bright gold. Curious Tony shakes the vines off his back and crawls to the nearest gold vine. Closer to the vine he can see liquid moving up and down the plant. Magenta clouds seem to be flowing with the mysterious liquid. Tilting his head to the side a bit, Tony twists the vine and pulls it apart with little effort. The sweet-smelling liquid ran down his gantlet, leaving a faint golden sheen on the metal.

     He stops, his gantlet is black. Only one of his suits has a black finish. He is wearing the space suit. Frowning he looks down at himself to confirm he is really wearing his most expensive suit. The suit is horribly scratched and needs more than just a paint job to have it looking new again. Dents littered the chest and thighs. Large chips show off the shiny metal underneath. Looking at a particularly nasty scratch down his arm had flashes of skyscrapers and flying aircraft racing across his mind, along with a jab of pain. He clenches his fists.

     " _...That’s a one-way tri…”_

     What happened? How did he end up here? Trying to find out came up with nothing. It hurt his head trying to think about it. One thing is for sure though, he isn’t on earth.

 

~~

 

     Tony is brought out of his musing when he finds that some golden sap, from the crushed plant in his hands, is covering the outer cameras on his helmet. He can’t see all that well but is reluctant to pull off the helmet. The air could be toxic to breathe in. A burst of hot air in his face is quick to tell him one of the eye slits has been broken. He has been breathing in this air for who knows how long.Flicking the clasps on the bottom of his jaw, he pulls off the helmet.

     It’s brighter without the helmet on. It does nothing for Tony’s worsening headache. Squinting a bit, he looks down at the helmet. The bright gold sap is covering most of the micro camera lenses hidden on the sides. He intentionally kicks himself. He would have to take off the rest of the suit if he wanted to clean the lenses. Metal is the worst thing you could use when clean glass, even if it’s bulletproof. Grumbling a bit, he twists the manual levers on the side of his leg and double tapped his knee. The suit, with some difficulty, opened in the back. The suit closes back up as he steps out, standing at sentry position.

     Grabbing his now exposed t-shirt, he rubs the golden sap away from the glass. He leaves the liquid on the face plate where it is, not wanting any more of it on his shirt than necessary.Placing the helmet back on the headless suit, he looks around with new eyes. A river he hadn’t seen earlier bubbles happily to his left. Like everything in this place, it’s odd looking. Instead of a safe blue color, the water shines a bright golden yellow. It made the river look fake somehow. He is kinda expecting Willy Wonka to pop out, assuring everyone that he finally made his golden chocolate river. The more primitive version of Wonka, the river looked too watery to be the newer one.

     Stop, get a grip. He needs a game plan, not a daydream about chocolate rivers. His stomach clenches, complaining about the extreme lack of food.  Damn, Tony didn’t even notice how hungry he is until this moment.Turning back to his suit he opens the faceplate to grab the straw attached to the inside.

     Sucking on his makeshift meal Tony contemplates his situation. This food source isn’t lasting long, three days maybe four if he rations his intake. His memory is a spotty mess. How he managed to get to another planet is lost on him. Another sure sign beside his killer headache that he has a concussion. Great, perfect. He doesn't even know if glowy the wonder Wonka river is safe to drink.

     Despite all this Tony thinks it’s nevertheless a safe bet that this is better than Afghanistan. He has safe food, water in his suit, and Jarvi-.

_      “...JARVIS!” _

     He tightens his jaw in response to the onslaught of memories. Right, Jarvis is knocked out for now. Still, this is more desirable than Afghanistan.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always please inform me if there are any grammar errors/story problems you believe need fixing.
> 
> Have a good rest of your day!


	4. He is a scientist goddammit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for making you guys wait 2 months for this chapter. But hey now that school is out I plan on releasing these chapters more often than once a month.

     Tony isn’t the biggest fan of camping.  Contrary to popular belief it isn’t because of the lack of anything electronic.  Tony had a better reason than something silly like that. No, it was because of a kidnapping when he was twelve.  Really the number of problems Tony has can be blamed on two things; kidnappings and his father. But he couldn’t blame his latest problem on those two things.  No this is purely his fault.

     Tony let out a large yell and threw the two offending sticks from his person.  Huffing he looked down at his hands. A gash glared back him disappointed in all his life choices.  Blood slowly leaked down and dropped to the earth a foot below. Pushing himself up with his non-injured hand he stomped to the river.  Tony thinks he can hear the universe’s chittering laughter. 

     Looking into the golden liquid he gets a good look at himself.  Anger leaves his body in one big whoosh. He is just frustrated and tired and… upset.  He didn’t ask the universe to save his sorry ass and throw him on to a planet with no signs of intelligent life.  He didn’t ask for amnesia, to not even remember how he got into this situation in the first place. For all he knows aliens attacked New York and portal sent him flying through space.  Trying to find out only gave him a headache. 

     His clothes are a mess, dirt further staining the oiled shirt.  Wait… he looks at his clothes closer. There is a slight lump in one his pockets.  Patting down his pants he finds his phone. Flicking it open he opens up to his recent call list,  Pepper is first on the list followed by Rhodey. 

_      “Tell her I never regr-”  _

   Tony winces and brings a hand to his head.  Looking back at his phone he taps open his notes app.  The most recent note made was four days ago, something about nanobots. Interesting, but not helpful at the moment.  

~shhhhhhhhhhhhhuwp~

   Tony head whips up.  Blinking away the sudden spots in his vision he crouches and shuffles closer to the bush the noise came from.  A snapping twig has him freezing. He forces himself to move forward ignoring the trembling in his legs. 

   Thump

   Thump 

   Something furry pops out of the bush.  Tony rolls back trying to catch his balance.  The creature simply blinks at him, it chirps before jumping out.  He tenses up the closer it gets to him. What was this thing? Could it eat him?  Would it want to eat him? Is it as dangerous as a Tasmanian devil? Sweating slightly he scooches back away from it.  It blinks at him again and flicks its catlike tail before moving towards the river. Its limbs are long and lanky with the fur staying close to its skin.  It dips a paw in the water and to his amazement, a bubble of water floats up with the paw as it moves back up. It brought up the sphere and touched its nose to the water.  It flicks its long slightly pointed ears at him before jumping back into the jungle, water still floating at its nose. 

   Sighing in relief Tony looks back at his phone.  He catches his reflection in the glass. His famous goatee is slightly overgrown but still recognizable. Anyone could see he is Tony Stark.  A man who starts fires by accident. He is a scientist, he can make fire. If the caveman can do it then so can he.

 

~~

 

   Tony ended up taking his phone apart to connect his battery with some kindling.  It works and now he has a fire. As good of a start as any. Getting up from his seated position on the ground he goes to his suit to check his rations.  Flipping some panels and buttons he reaches the water and food storage compartment. The one galleon water pouch is untouched and the one galleon food pouch is close to being full.  He has the essentials to last at least five days. Tony looks up into the forest. He has five days to escape the jungle or find a new food source. He isn’t sure he wants to try drinking the water from the river.  There is no telling what is in that. For all he knows the creatures on this planet have a special chemical in their stomach to digest the water. Shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts he looks back down at his hand.  The blood has now dried around the wound making natures band-aid. Humans are built to adapt. He just needs to adapt to his situation and fix his suit.

   “I am not going to die,” Tony says to himself.

 

~~

 

   In any survival situation, one of the most important things a person needs is a shelter.  It doesn't need to be anything fancy, it just needs to protect them from the elements. Luckily if thought about creatively a shelter can be built with almost anything.  Leaves can be used for the roof. Fallen branches can be used as walls, supports, and roof structure. Vines can hold everything together and rocks can help keep things from falling over.   Now luckily Tony is one of the smartest people on earth. One of the smartest in the universe. He is creative in every invention he builds. Ideas are constantly bouncing around in his head.  So much so that he has a hard time sleeping even without his PTSD. So building a shelter is no problem even with his injuries.

   Tony huffs out a breath and hefts up the branch he is dragging.  Making it back to camp he drops the large piece of wood. He now has five branches one of them being longer than the other four.  Grabbing one of them he lifts it up and pushes it to lean against another one to form a triangle shape. Picking up a vine from the nearby pile he ties the two branches together.  Stepping back he notes that the structure looks a little unstable. Looking around he spots a patch of rocks by the river. After a couple of trips of carrying rocks, he places them around each branch.  Happy with the results Tony repeats the process a bit further away.

   Now that he has two supporting walls he places the longer branch on top of the two triangles.  With the skeleton of his shelter completed, he sits down and feeds his fire some more wood.  Looking up Tony sighs when he sees that the sky is a bright pink and orange. He isn’t even close to finishing and night-time can’t be too far away.  Glancing back at the rapidly darkening woods he suppresses a shiver. Who knows what is in the woods much less at night. He resigns himself to spend the night under his incomplete shelter.  

   Watching the sky is an interesting thing to behold.  The pinks and oranges melt into a deep purple instead of a dark blue.  Stars that start to pop up looks streaked like someone took a watercolor brush and swiped it across the sky.  It is undeniably a breathtaking sight. Unfortunately, it is a short event to enjoy. As the sky became darker the temperature steadily drops.  It soon gets so cold that Tony can see his breath in the low light of the twin moons.

   Teeth chattering he rubs the sides of his arms vigorously while scooching closer to the fire. How did it get this cold so quickly? How do the plants stay alive in this temperature? Almost as if the plants are listening, they answer him.  The tree right in front of him starts glowing a deep orange color. Starting from the top leaves the light travels downwards into the roots causing the ground to warm. Like a switch being flipped more trees and plants start to glow. Flowers, he hasn’t noticed before, brightening like Christmas bulbs with bright yellow light.  As quickly as the cold appeared it disappears with only the occasional cold breeze from above as a reminder.

   “What the-”  Tony stops when he sees the creature in front of him.

   It’s a large thing, easily standing taller than Tony by four feet, with long fangs and a tongue that drools sickening looking blue liquid.  It crouches and lets out a low humming growl that shakes him to the core. It’s lamp like eyes narrow and its rat-like tail whips back and forth.  It is only when Tony sees long sharp claws parotid from its paws that he manages to unfreeze himself. Turning he runs towards his suit, heavy footsteps follow close behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. As always if you spot something that you think I should fix feel free to tell me.   
> Have a good rest of your day!


	5. Today just keeps getting worse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super sorry for the long wait. I really meant to post this sooner. You're probably really tired of me saying this but I am going to work on posting these more often. Hope you enjoy the chapter! Have a good rest of your day!

     Tony doesn't make it two steps before the creature is on top of him. Long claws catch the back of his shirt and he is tossed to the ground. Wheezing out he tries to crab crawl away from its dinner plate-sized paws. With quick fluid movements, the creature has Tony pinned. It presses itself into his stomach and his chest twinges unhappily at the weight. It bends down its head and snarled into his hair. Its breath is disgustingly sweet smelling, a strong mix between pomegranate and oranges. If Tony wasn’t currently pinned by the thing he would have wondered why that is. Ice creeps down his spine as a deep primal urge roar at him to RUN. He tries to suck in a breath and ends up coughing at the thing's breath. The next one proves to be easier than the first with his nose getting used to the smell emanating from the thing. Looking quickly around he grabs the closest thing to him and smashes it against one of the claws that are keeping him from pushing off the paw and rolling away. The rock hits the appendage right at the bend and cracks it on contact. The thing yips and jumps back holding the injured appendage close to its chest.  
     Tony jumps back and wearily watches as the creature shuffles to the edge of the forest. It lifts its head to the nearest gold vine. To his surprise, it bites down and slurps the thing up like a spaghetti noodle. He watches in silent awe as the cat-like creature starts to glow a dull gold color. It places its foot on the ground. It crouches. Tony turns and runs into the woods. Large thuds follow closely with every step he takes.  
     Thud  
     Thud  
     Thud  
     Bump ba dump  
     Bump da dump  
     He can’t hear past the roaring in his ears. Every step is agony on his sore limbs. Every bump moves the arc reactor in his chest. Ignoring it as best he can he twists around a tree desperate for any barrier between him and the thing trying to eat him. He distantly hears a pained bark behind him.  
The pain in his chest builds and it becomes harder to breathe. The further into the forest he gets the worse it gets. Soon the world closes around him until it's just a small bubble in front of him.  
     Huff  
     Huff  
     Thump  
     Another tree, another few feet. Just a bit further, he can make it. He just needs to outrun… it. Outrun it. He feels a little faint. The back of his throat feels raw.  
     Huff  
     Huff  
     Thump  
     Huff Huff huff huff huff hufff hfff fffffffffffffffffffffff  
     He twists around another tree. A bush. Every step gained is a small victory against the building pain in his lungs. How long has he been running? A minute, ten. It feels like it has been hours.

    He forgets why he is running. But he can’t stop.

    Tony didn’t see the root until it was too late. It catches on his toe and he trips. The ground slowly approaches, closer and closer. His arms move to catch himself.  
     Thump.  
     The world seems strangely silent as he lays on the forest floor. The only thing he could hear is the sharp breaths coming out of his mouth. Pushing his arms under himself, Tony tries to get up. They give out from under him. Desperately he tries to pull himself forward.  
    He slides forward. Reaching out again he pulls his body across the dirt in a slow army crawl. It doesn’t take long for the pain in his chest becomes too much to continue moving.  
     Flipping onto his back Tony breathes. Even that hurts.

~~

     Rocket is having a shitty day. It all started with breakfast. Peter had eaten the last of Rocket’s favorite protein bars. Heck, they were the last of the protein bars and he ended up having to wait twenty minutes for some food to be made. Then he was forced to take a bath as the rest of the crew had complained to him about the smell. He lost his favorite wrench to the vents and Now! Well now he is dealing with a malfunctioning ship.  
     “What just hit us!!?” Peter turns off his music.  
     “It kind of looked like a body,” Gamora said, trying to focus the ships camera on the thing.  
     “A body out here,” Rocket laughs “It was moving too fast to be a person”  
     He hops out of his chair and moves to the underbelly to see the damage. Grabbing a spacesuit device and a jetpack he goes out. Flying out a bit he sees that the right wing was smashed in half. Swearing he looks back towards where the thing had headed. It was gone, the black abyss swallowing it up. Moving back to the ship his suit sent out a warning beep. Startled he looks down, his radiation meter reads higher levels than he would normally get out in space. Now stressed he quickly moves back to the ship.  
     “Did you see anything?” Peter asks right when Rocket gets inside.  
     “Yeah half the ship’s wing is broken off,” He pulls off the space suit “It’s weird though”  
     “What, what’s weird?”  
     “My radiation meter was reading higher than usual”  
     Peter hmms with a frown settling on his face.  
     “Hey you two I tracked the path the rogue ship took”  
     Rocket hops up to the front and takes a look at the screen. A small blurry figure can be seen, one could see it as a man. Rocket said as much.  
     Peter scoffs “That does not look like a man”  
     Rocket taps the screen with a claw, “see this right here, it’s the head” he is pointing at a small glowing blue dot.  
     “Is not-”  
     “Guys!” Gamora shouts out “Whatever it is, it’s headed towards this planet.”  
     She taps the screen a couple times and a large icy blue sphere fills the screen.  
     “Locals call it Angels most protected secret”  
     “Geez could they have come up with a longer name” Rocket zoomed in on the planet, he could see some orange dots and lines running across the planet.  
     Gamora tactfully ignores him and pulls up the planet’s docking rules.  
     “Thankfully we meet the guidelines for landing on the planet”  
     “What are the guidelines?” Peter peeks over her shoulder.  
     On it read; Only damaged ships can land on the planet and only in designated landing zones, Pets? Don’t bring them, no exporting of any plants or animals from the planet, no exploration of any kind… any who don’t follow the rules will be properly punished.  
     “We’re landing here? This place sounds like one of the places we avoid due to Rocket’s kleptomaniac tendencies.”  
     “Hey, that was two times!”  
     “That we know of, I’m still not sure where you got the large prosthetic hand”  
     “The guy gave it to me”  
     “Unfortunately,” Gamora cuts in “it’s the only planet we can get with the ship damaged like this.”  
     She gives him a hard look “We don’t want another incident like we had with the Phalanx, Behave yourself.”  
     She turns back to the ship’s controls and eases it towards the planet. Rocket had a bad feeling about this.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please comment if you notice anything that looks weird or should be changed in the story because it doesn't make sense. I wouldn't be posting this if I didn't want people criticising my work.


	6. Things that go Bump in the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look at that! A new chapter after one week and it is two times longer than the last one. Hope you enjoy it! Have a good rest of your day!

     Landing on the planet was understandably rough. With a missing wing, Rocket had expected that. Thankfully he was the best pilot in the galaxy-

     “Oh knock that off you're not the best pilot,”  Peter said with a huff in his voice.

     They ended up landing in a small little town on the outskirts of a big city.  When they opened up the door, what looked like an official greeter was there to greet them.

     “What seems to be the problem here?” he asks, his tone brisk and formally polite.

     “Aaah, the wing is smashed in half” Rocket wasn't sure if this guy was real.

     “Does seem to be a big problem doesn't it”

     Rocket ignores him and travels to the back of the ship where all the guns are stored.  He grabs a large lightweight one and a bag for a couple of provisions. Walking back towards the bay door, he makes it in time to hear the man rattle off procedures on how this trip is going to go.

     “As soon as you're ship is fixed you have two hours to leave the planet.  Failure to follow this and violators will be properly punished.” He puffs up importantly, shining his badge a bit. 

     “I'm headed out don't wait up for me.” Rocket moves to get out of the ship, the puffed-up man blocks him. 

     “And where do you think you're going!” he splutters.

     “Out, I need some supplies”

     The man furrows his brow, his lips pursed.  It was like his life goal was to make Rocket’s life more difficult.

     “Fine, but you better be back by the time the sun goes down or else you'll be properly punished” 

     Once again Rocket ignores him,  “Come on Groot, the day is wasting away.”

     The little tree pops out from the underbelly of the ship with a few jelly beans in his mouth. Toddling over he excitedly yells out a little “Groot” and falls in step with Rocket.  They find the stores pretty easily. Many little restaurants could be found between them. Little lights hung from the street lamps and bright gold and orange. There didn't seem to be many mechanical shops, and what he did find was junk and materials he didn’t need.  Groot sighs, a little bored with the fact that there wasn't much to look at. Only a few snow banks and sleighs could be seen around the town. There weren't many people, only a few could be seen walking down the street. Before Rocket could even ask if they had any other shops that sold electronics they turned around and walked away.  Not too concerned by this he looks into an alleyway that was on his right. There wasn't much in it just a dumpster and what could be the equivalent of a cardboard box. Just as he was about to leave a wiggle in the trash caught his attention. Creeping inside he quietly moves to look inside. As he reached inside to remove the box a small blue hand popped out.  Jumping, he cautiously pokes it. The being attached to the hand gives out a little giggle and their head emergence. 

     “You’re such a cute doggy,” she says.

     “I'm not a dog” he backs away from her. 

     “he speaks”  she cries out in happiness.  She pushes at the garbage that is trapping her and jumps out.  She crouches in front of him and taps his head. He pulls his ears back.

     “I told you I'm not a dog.  Hands off!”

     The girl pouts and pushes herself back into a standing position.  Her dress looks tattered, any color that might have been in it is long gone and there is a large rip in her sleeve. She is wearing no shoes and, despite the weather, didn't seem to be cold at all.

     “What were you doing the garbage?”

     “My master threw me there.  How do you get your fur so soft.”  She reaches out to touch it again.

     “I just showered-your master? You belong to someone?!” 

     Her face didn’t show any signs of distress.  She actually seemed happy about the arrangement.

     “Yep, I broke the rules.”  

     “You became a slave because you broke the rules? That's messed up.”  

     “No silly, it was why I was thrown in the garbage.”

     Rocket was disturbed.  Someone throw this little girl into the garbage because she broke the rules? He was having second thoughts on the way he brushed off the warnings earlier.

     “Hey kid, do you know if I can find an electronics shop around here?”

     “Not that I know of,” she said happily.  He was about to ask her another question when she skipped away, no sadness to be seen.

     A little miffed he walks further into the alleyway, maybe he will be able to find a store on a different road. Groot happy to help follows him.  He could faintly hear the girl’s feet scoff against the sidewalk behind him. As he got further into the alley, plants started to appear along the walls. At first, they looked normal, but as time went on they became weird in color. He swears he saw a gold vine hanging over a balcony at one point.  When he reached the end of the alley he found himself at the edge of a forest. Turning to go to the alley his suit gives out a little beep. Looking down he sees his radiation meter is slightly higher than it was a second ago. Turning his head back to the forest he contemplates his options. He could go back to the town and see if he could find some parts to tinker with later or he could search the forest for the thing that hit him space the ship.

     Gamora and Peter would be expecting him he muses to himself.  

     “But,” he thinks “I want to know what was traveling so fast.” 

     He looks back to the dumpster he can barely see at the beginning of the alley.  The garbage that had been thrown out is still littering the ground. Would there even be a point in looking for the thing?  Punishments here seemed to be stricter than he had thought. Would the punishment be light enough to make this venture worth it?  He moves to go back into the alley. Just as he steps in he hears Groot let out a squeak. Turning back he sees Groot disappear into the brush.  Letting out a shout, Rocket runs after him.

 

~

 

     For a tree that is only 6 inches tall, Groot is pretty fast.  The tiny lead that they managed to grab had Rocket falling behind.  He could no longer see them. Hopping over another branch Rocket desperately looks through the leave to see if he could find the little thing. He had no such luck.  The only thing telling him that Groot is still close by is his occasional happy squeaks.

     “Come on Groot! This isn't funny!” Rocket yells, “come back here.”

     He doesn't know what could have caught the little guy's attention.  Had there been a small animal in the brush? Perhaps he saw something shiny, he seems to be attracted to those things lately.  He doesn't mind Groot being curious but sometimes Rocket thinks he is going to pay for it at some point or another. His suit gives out another warning beep. 

     “Come back!” Rocket yells.

     In the distance, he hears a large bark.  He picks up the pace. Any creature that made a sound that big from that distance must be huge.  Rocket remembers one of the rules that the landing guidebook had. Absolutely no exploration could mean anything. He's afraid one of those things could be large predators.   He keeps his hearing sharp trying to pick out what direction it came from. He wants to call out for Groot again. It didn’t seem much like a good idea with a potential threat close by. 

     With most of his attention directed to hearing for Groot and the creature, he doesn't notice the root until it’s too late.  It catches his foot and he falls to the ground. The last of the pitter-patter steps fade from his ears. He slams his fist on to the ground.  Groot was gone and there was something dangerous on the loose. This day couldn’t get any worse.

 

~

 

     Tony was barely aware of his surroundings.  Wasn't really thinking of much more than trying to breathe normally.  Not that he's been breathing normally since Afghanistan but that's not the point.  He can't hear whatever had been chasing him. He hopes it's gone, he doesn't think he could move at this rate much less run from it.  It scares him to pieces that he has no idea where he is. What kind of planet he is dealing with. The animals are strange and foreign. For all he knows that creature could just be one of the smaller predators, there could be a bigger one just around the corner.  Now that he has had time to think he realized how ridiculous this situation is. Don't let the villains hear this, Tony Stark can be downed by a 20-minute jog.

     His vision Is still coming in and out of focus.  The back of his throat felt as if he had run sandpaper over it multiple times.  It hurt to breathe through it. He really needs to stop thinking about it. His mind was about to go on another tangent on life and how much it sucked when he hears a rustle in the bushes on his left.  Struggling to turn his head without throwing up he spots the ears of a much smaller creature. It emerged from the bushes and Tony was semi-happy to see it was just the one he had ran into at the river.  It looks like it was from something but it stopped to look at him. Was it running from the same thing he had? He wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.

     Oh God did it just lead the creature back to him?!  He strains to hear past the beating in his ears to see if the creature was coming back.  He couldn’t hear it, not that it meant that much. For all, he knew it had a sneak mode. After all, he didn’t hear it approach his camp.

     The smaller creature, however, didn’t continue to run.  Instead, it padded over to him. It poked at the arc reactor in his chest and gave a little growl at it.  A little surprised at the blatant dislike of the thing that was keeping him alive Tony huffed out a laugh, and then immediately began to wheeze again.  The creature looked back at him with alarm, at the rattling in his chest. It backed away and hopped back into the bushes. Tony frowned, even a little creature like that didn’t want his company.

     That made him think back to try and figure out how he got into himself into this situation. His memory on it was still fuzzy, and he couldn't quite remember how Jarvis got damaged.  He remembers screaming out Jarvis's name. He remembers intense white-hot light. He remembers electric shots in his suit, but he can't remember anything else. Can't remember why he was in space, why he was wearing his space suit.  Can't even remember when the last time he talked to Pepper. He didn't want to think about that if he did he would start crying. So he wasn't going to think about it.

     The creature hopping back out of a bush brought him out of his downward spiral.  It held a gold vine similar to the one he had broken earlier in its mouth. It came closer into his space trying to place it into his mouth. As much as Tony would love to heal magically like the predator even the thought of eating had him gagging.  It pushed the vine forward and as soon as it touched his lips he heaved. He barely managed to turn his head to the side in time to make sure he didn’t choke. The small creature jumps back with alarm like this hasn’t happened to it before. Maybe it was an Earth thing.  It hopped around his splash zone and tap his forehead. He got the feeling it was scolding him. Good god, he hasn’t been this sick since his birthday. 

 

~

 

     Thankfully the creature seems to realize Tony wasn't going to be able to eat anything anytime soon.  It instead had settled for trying to make him move. For the 14th time, it had nudged his shoulder trying to get him to at least crawl towards a shelter.  The thing is though Tony hurts way too much for that. On top of that, he is stubborn. Nothing out stubborn him, much less this creature. He isn’t moving unless he wants to. Unfortunately, it didn’t know this and kept nosing him in the arm.

     Instead of listening to it Tony focused on trying to figure out how he's going to get back to his camp.  He worked pretty hard on that shelter and he really didn’t want to build another one. The fact that his space suit was there was an even bigger problem. Without it, Tony doesn't have a chance to get back home alone.  He likes survival shows as much as the next person but there is no way he was going to stay here for the rest of his life. The little thing hit him in the shoulder again with his head.

     “Hey!  If you're going to keep bothering me I might need to name you.  Trust me you don’t want me to name you” Tony says. It didn’t even listen to him, headbutting him in the shoulder again.

     “You were warned.  How about-” Before he could even think of a name, another shuffling of a nearby bush interrupted him.  A little wooden head popped out, almost blending in with the shrub. What is with this plant? Does every little thing here have a sense that tells them that someone is injured?  It lets out a series of word sounding noises and ran towards him. It seems like it didn’t expect any response as it just looks over him with worried eyes. 

     With a grunt, Tony manages to push himself up into a sitting position.  It waves its little arms in protest and lets out some angry noises. How is it he managed to attract all the mother hens on the planet?  As if hearing his thoughts the still unnamed creature shoves the gold vine back into his face. 

     “You're now Marigold”  He points at the now dubbed Marigold while pushing away the plant.  She tilts her head and lets out a confused chirp. He turns to the wooden one and-

     “Groot!” it points at itself.

     Tony tries to repeat the sound.  It nods in confirmation. Wait, Groot could understand him.  Was this the native species of this planet? How does it even understand him?  He decided not to look at a gift horse in the mouth.

     He looked around and found the ruined shrubs he must have run through in his haste to get away from the predator.  It’s the way back to camp, and his only way home. He still feels like he has been run over by a truck but he can’t let his stuff be left out in the open.  If this little sentient tree is living here, then others could be nearby. 

     “Groot is anyone else around?”  He says hesitantly. They nod. 

     Tony looks back on the path.  Mind made up, he pushes himself to his feet.  It feels like the floor dropped a foot and his vision buzz's grey for a second.  He can hear Groot’s worried voice from below. The first few steps get him to the tree line  He leans on one, and Groot tugs at his leg. When he looks down he sees them pointing in the opposite direction.  That must be the direction the others are. As tempting as it is to meet another friendly sentient being, he really needs to get back to camp. 

      Reaching for the next tree, he shuffles over. He does it again and again.  It’s slow going, but he makes it back down the path without falling over. Groot and Marigold seem to realize he wasn’t going to stop and follow him.

 

~

 

     When Tony finally reaches camp, he is a sweaty mess.  Huffing a little he flops to the ground underneath his makeshift shelter.  Groot says something in a mournful tone while looking at his shelter. 

     “It’s all I had time to do,” Tony says.

      Groot looks around his work before seeming to decide something.  Before Tony can say anything he runs back into the woods. He sighs and closes his eyes.  Today had been long, it was hard to even believe that he was on a different planet. Not that he knows how he got here.  All he can seem to remember is bright flashes of his arc reactor, explosions, and what seemed to be a goodbye to Pepper. That means whatever had happened he chose to do it and Pepper had been there to witness it. 

      He felt a brush of fur on his face.  Opening his eyes a bit he sees Marigold curling up by his neck.  Her ears were tucked close to her head. A low cry emanated from her throat, seeming to read his mood.  He turned his face to her, not really knowing how to help her. They could be sad together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always please comment if you notice anything that's off. It would be a huge help with the development of the story. Thanks!


	7. Before sunrise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this would have come out sooner if my English teacher hadn't decided to assign three essays in the span of three weeks. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

 

     In the thick of the jungle, not a sound could be heard.  No chirps of night birds, not a whisper of leaves as the night predators brush past.  The woods seem frozen in place as if someone had pressed pause. Rocket didn’t care, he didn’t care that he couldn’t hear.  All that he can register is the spot he had last seen Groot. He couldn’t even hear his excited little chirps. He moves to the nearest tree in a stunned silent step.  

     What was he going to do?  When they had disappeared he hadn’t been able to see them.  Really at that point, he had just barely been able to hear him.  That huge animal he heard earlier could have eaten them and Rocket would be unaware.  

     He moved towards the last place he heard Groot.  Regardless of his knowledge of Groot’s position he couldn’t stop looking.   Taking in a deep breath he catches the faint whiff of pine and firefly amongst the other scents of the forest.  He moves, feet catching the slight indent in the dirt Groot left behind.

 

~

 

     Smoke hung heavy in the air, outlines of tall builds barely visible through the thick inky matter.  The sharp tang of blood lay heavy on the tongue. Buildings collapsing into themselves could be heard in the distance.  On the side lay a woman, her hair was short and brown. Her face was plain and would have brought no attention if it wasn’t bleeding from her forehead.  In her hands, she clutched a cracked cell phone. A blinking screen indicating that she had lost contact with her call. 

     Sirens could be heard wailing up and down the street a block over. Rocks littered the streets blocking vehicles from getting closer.  It was the perfect disaster and Tony had no idea how he got there. 

     He sat up, strangely not uncomfortable on the pebble ridden road.  He coughs, the smell of rot catching in his throat. He turns his head around, looking for the source of the smell.  There… in the rubble of a building wall. He walks over, feeling strangely floaty. In the rocks a blasted in face of grey could be seen.  Green blood flowed down to the floor, pooling. Looking at it he thought he could see stars glittering in it.

     “IRON-MAN”  Tony turns to see Captain America running over, in his hands he holds his shield.  Its covered in the same dark green liquid.

     “WHERE IS YOUR SUIT!”

     Tony feels his stomach twist.

     “I don’t have it-”

     “WHAT?”  Captain swings his shield and smashes a nearby alien.  Blue edges Tony’s vision and he flinches away. 

     “I Don’t Have It-”

     “I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”  Another alien dies. Tony steps back.  

     “I”

     Smash

     “Don’t”

     Smash 

     “Have”

     Smash

     “It!”

     Smash, Smash, smash.

     Captain was now five feet from him, stars and stripes seemingly emanating from the man.  He was frowning though, looking as if Tony had kicked a puppy. Tony steps back again.

     “You don’t have it?”

     “That’s right”

     “If you don’t have it leave,”  Captain turns away, away from Tony, “You’re nothing without it.”

     Tony moves back, each step getting faster and faster.  Away from the man, the one he hates. The one he envied and despised for taking his father’s love. 

     Step

     Step 

     Step

     Thump

     Thump

     Thump

     Thum- he falls back, slipping into the puddle of blood.

     Instead of hitting the road below, he falls into empty space.  Well not empty, the beings he saw earlier race past him on flying bikes.  They stir the sides of the sky, spraying blood onto his face. It lands on his nose and mouth.  It gets in his ears muffling his world to a dull whisper. The only noise he feels is his rapidly beating heart.  

     Thump 

     Thump

     Thump

     Hammers slam on to his arms denting and scratching his skin.  

     Thump

     Thump

     Thump

     Thump

     He tries to scream.  He can’t, blood clogs his throat.  It chokes him, he can’t breathe. 

     Thump

     Thump

     Thump 

     More monsters race past.  More blood rains down. It crawls down his skin, locking him in place.  It inches to his eyes. 

     Thump

     Blue fills the edges of his vision.

     Thump

     He slowly turns around.

     Thump

     In the distance, he can see a large rocket.

     Thump

     As it roars closer in muted silence, he can see the weighted head.

     Thump

     The screams of millions fill his ears, drowning out the thumping of his heart.  Maybe it had stopped, he had no idea. It got closer and closer. It hit-

 

     Tony gasps and rockets forward a soundless cry on his tongue. Screaming still fill his ears, his mouth his everything.  It shakes him to his bone. It is a child. It is a kid. It is a mother. It is a father. It is… him. He’s the one screaming.

     At that revelation, the sound fades away and he is left in silence.  What even was that? It was a dream. That much is obvious. But of what is confusing him.  He has never been in that situation before. Unless- unless that was how he got to be on a different planet.  The thing he couldn’t seem to clearly remember. Somehow he couldn’t bring himself to believe that was all true.  His dreams are hardly ever that realistic. Well, except for that one bit. That ladies face, her still chest He couldn’t seem to get it out of his head.  

     What kind of battle was he apart of?

     With that stuck in his head, he pushed himself up on shaky legs and moved over to the river.  He didn’t dare to dip his hands, but he looked in hoping for a distraction. Magenta clouds moved along with the golden currant, highlighting the few fish he could see inside.  He almost fell in when he felt a bump to his shoulder. Down to his right sat Marigold. Her little head was tilted, confused with his reasons on moving. 

     It's strange but that helped ground Tony.  She didn’t understand, she didn’t know human emotions.  She wasn’t from earth. He wasn’t on earth. He isn’t where that battle took place.  He’s saf- not there.

     He picks her up ignoring the startled squeak and hugs her close  The sun would rise soon, bring the day’s worries. But for now, while it was still dark, Tony didn’t need to pretend to be okay.  Together they could just watch the river and wait till the sunrise.

 

~

 

     Groot almost falls into a bush when they hear the distant scream.  It’s a long drawn out thing that stops as suddenly as it had appeared.  It sounded very similar to how Peter sounded that one-time Gamora had fallen into a large sinkhole.  But it wasn’t Peter, he was too far away for them to hear him. Even with the vocal cords that he has.  

     If it wasn’t Peter than it was the new human they found.  Groot quickly dropped half his load and headed back to the clearing the other human had put their camp in.  It wasn’t really that much of a camp honestly. The shelter the human had built itself was pathetically weak in protection against the elements.  He would drown in the first rain. Groot had been gathering materials to help fix the darn thing. Really though they were gone for an hour at most.  What kind of trouble could a sleeping human get into?!

     They arrived in the clearing to find that nothing seemed wrong.  There wasn’t any monster feasting on the remains of what they are hoping to be their new friend.  Heck, when they got closer to the shelter they couldn’t see any creepy crawly death dealers. Not that they really knew what those were.  Peter had mentioned them once when explaining why he woke up the whole crew one night with his high pitched screams. 

     They looked around a saw the human near the river.  He wasn’t doing anything that was screaming worthy. Just staring into the water hugging the other being they had found.  Groot didn’t know what a ‘Marigold’ was. It was definitely a name, but his translator chip didn’t translate the word. 

     The human didn’t seem to want to be bothered so they turned away, placing the branches they found by the shelter.  They could start fixing the structure while they were here. They could grab the rest later.

 

~

 

     Rocket was very close to giving up.  It’s not that he wanted to, but it was getting very close to sunrise.  He would need to get back and inform Peter and Gamora that Groot once again got away.  He has been so close too. He had been able to follow Groot’s trail until he reached a clearing with a large rock.  There the scent of blood and fear was too strong to be able to pick up any sign of Groot. He had no idea if they had gotten here before the thing that had bled in the clearing did.  Any marks the tiny tree may have made were covered thoroughly by whatever had been attacked.

     He sniffed again and was frustrated to find the scent of Groot still missing.  They simply didn’t give off as much of a smell as blood did. Maybe If Groot hadn’t been tiny he would have been able to, but then again if Groot was an adult he wouldn’t be having this problem.  

     Grumbling again he started back towards the city.  This conversation was going to be fun.

~

 

     “Wait let me get this right, you lost Groot in the forest that you are forbidden to going in.”

     “Yes” 

     “You lost them.”

     “Yes”

     “And you couldn’t find him?!”

     “Yes”

     Peter groans, and bangs his head on the nearby fixed wall. The ship looks as it did before the wing was smashed.  If Rocket didn’t know better he would have assumed that it never was.

     “These people are coming back at any moment to kick us off the planet and you’re telling me that you lost one of our group members.  In a large jungle!”

     “When you put it like that it sounds like a big issue.”

     Peter turns back to him, Rocket is surprised to find panic in his eyes.

     “I don’t think you’re getting it.  They’re kicking us off the planet. Anyone who stays or comes back will be arrested.”

     He grabs Rockets shoulders and shakes him.  

     “This. Is. A. Very. Bad. Thing!”

     A knock sounds outside the ship, Peter lets go of his shoulders.  Instead of moving for the door he moves to the rack of jetpacks and spacesuits.  He tosses one of each at Rocket. He looks at the spacesuit, the design has changed a bit since they faced Peter’s jerk father.  Instead of covering one person it can cover up to three as long as they are in contact with each other. Peter had been adamant about the change.  Not that Rocket had been fighting him about that.

    “Hide that on you,” Peter draws his attention again, “You’re staying here and getting Groot back.”

     He moves to the door and let’s the puffed up official in.  He shines his badge and looks around the ship. As if he would be able to tell if they smuggled anything at a mere glance.

    “Everything looks to be in order…” He bends over to see under a bench, never once bending his knees.  Peter looks over him and nods at the door. Rocket sneaks around and steps onto the ramp. The official stands back up, not sparing a glance for Rocket.  

    “Yes well then. Get ready to leave. You’re being asked to leave immediately.  The great leader demands it so.” He shines his badge for the hundredth time. 

    Peter holds up a hand and in one quick movement knocks over Rocket’s wrench that had been sitting on his work table.  Rocket takes this as his cue to leave and jumps out of the ship. The outraged cries of the egotistical man only spur him to run faster.  

    He jumps into a crate a hundred feet from the ship and waits for the man to call the police. It doesn't happen, Gamora walks onto the ship.  The official walks out. The ship takes off. As they disappear into the atmosphere Rocket feels stress seep into his bones. Making sure the coast is clear he jumps out and sprints to the alley.  

    It was easy, way too easy, to get to the dark passageway.  The only difference between now and then was the lack of the little girl.  His suspicions turned out to be correct when, upon exiting, he runs into a small platoon of soldiers.  In their hands, they are holding wicked looking spears. On their heads shiny helmets. The leader steps forward and removes his helmet.  His hair is pure white and is shaved close to his skull. Over his brow is a long jagged scar, Rocket imagines that he got it doing something dumb. 

    “Stop violater, you have broken our sacred code and will be punished most appropriately.”

    “Which one would that be?” Rocket backs up.

    The man predictably splutters, “One! One!  You have broken at least fourteen!”

    “Only fourteen? Thought it would closer to twenty-five”

    The poor man looks as if he was about to have a heart attack at those words.  One of his soldiers patted his arm, looking close to panic himself. Luckily the leader pulled himself together before that could happen.

    “Fortunately for you, the crimes are less and you won’t be condemned to death”

    Rocket has reached the entrance to the alleyway and crouches slightly.  The soldiers move closer to him.

    “Come without resisting and your sentence may be lessened”

    “Yeah, no”

    Rocket leaps to the side and bounces of the wall.  They rush forward and he leaps over their heads. With them at his back, Rocket sprints into the forest leaping into the first tree he sees.  Not slowing down a second he jumps to the next one. Then the next, trying to lose his pursuers. 

    It doesn't take long for him to outpace the soldiers.  Soon all he hears from them is the faint yells in the distance.  He takes a sharp right and heads towards the clearing where he last saw Groot.  Hopefully, he could find them before the soldiers did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always please comment any mistakes or lapses in grammar you think I should be aware of. I always appreciate the constructive feedback I get, it will only help me and the story.   
> Until next time have a good rest of your day!


	8. One plant two plant Red plant Blue Plant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not as long as I would have liked but I couldn't help ending it where I did. I should have the next chapter done by next Tuesday. Now on to the story!

    Groot liked building things.  Maybe it was because he grew up watching Rocket create the most amazing things.  Guns that could blast up to one hundred people in five seconds. Gravitational devices that sent beings flying into the air.  Of course, they couldn’t forget about the Milano. Their home that travels the universe. It was pretty great.

    From there it was just natural to try a hand at building things.  Of course, they haven’t shown their attempts to Rocket. They were hardly that good and Rocket was often busy doing other things.  They didn’t want to bother him. 

    So while they weren’t very good at the technical aspect yet he was pretty good at structure, well if it was made of wood.  Really finishing off a wooden structure was easy to do. It helped that they had a good base to go off of. What Groot had thought to be the finished shelter was actually the skeleton to the structure.  That was relieving, he didn’t want his human to drown.

    By the time the sun had reached the sky he had made the roof waterproof and was almost done with the walls.  Rocket probably would have yelled at him if he knew that they did that. Something about them being too young to do something like this.  In any other place, he would have been right, but this planet was teeming with plant life. Meaning that the soil was plenty rich, malnutrition wouldn’t become a problem.   

    His human had come back over after the sun had shown itself.  He had seemed surprised to find his shelter finished.

    “Groot did… you didn’t have to”  The silly human didn’t think that Groot wanted to do this.  He tries to tell him as much.

    He seems to get it as he tries to deny the words, “I could have done it.  I was planning to” He continued to babble useless things, they didn’t try to pay attention to the silliness.  Instead, they took this moment to observe the human. He has dark brown hair and what seemed to be what Peter called a beard.  Groot wasn't quite sure as it didn’t look too much like what Peter wore on his face. The human seemed tired, and not just in the lack of sleep way.  His face was really pale.

    Groot had noticed Marigold trying to give him a gold vine.  Their instincts told them that it was special. Maybe the human would less be tired if he ate the plant.  It was worth a shot. They turned away and looked for the nearest gold vine. Marigold seemed to notice their attention had strayed and looked with them.  She found it first and ran off to get it. The human made a weird sound in its throat.

    Groot looked back at him.  He had a conflicted look on his face like he didn’t know if he should want the cat-like creature with him.  They thought that was silly and told the human so.

    “I have no idea what you just said”

    Silly human.

    Luckily Marigold came back before the human could sprout any more nonsense, in her mouth was a dripping gold vine.  The human looked a little miffed, Groot didn’t really understand why. Marigold thrust the plant forward making a small hopeful keening noise in her throat, Groot looked up expectantly.  The human carefully took the vine from her mouth and examined it. It seemed like it took forever before he chewed on it. 

    It was like magic watching the color return his cheeks, his eyes brightened and the slight sway he had stopped.  Best of all some of the tiredness from his eyes disappeared. Groot chirped in happiness, quite glad his human was getting better.  Then, well that is when the improvement stopped.

 

~

 

    It was interesting to chew on the golden plant.  Tony could feel the energy flowing through his veins.  For the first time in days, his head felt clear, he could think.  Distantly he heard Groot’s happy chirp, but he was a little preoccupied with the memories flying into his head.

    He was flying.

    He was shooting.

    Cap was shouting at him.

    Portal, Nuclear, Pepper.

    Tony groans and lets his head fall into his hands.  Really he went and threw himself into a portal, really!?  He felt a bump to his stomach. A small confused trill from Marigold had him looking down.  She, however, wasn’t pointed towards him. She was facing the woods. He turned the same way and peered into the forest.  He couldn’t see anything, Groot let out a worrying chirp. They look for a long moment before looking back at Tony. 

    Nothing.

    Tony lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and looked back at his shelter.  Groot somehow managed to build the walls and the roof in the time he was asleep and at the river.  He was a little impressed, to be honest, and tells Groot so. Groot ducks their head a bit and red flowers bloom along their arms and the top his head, odd.  

    Without thinking he rubs the top of the small trees head.  Groot lets out a small gasp and faster than lightning Tony pulls his hand back. Marigold huffs out a small breath and gives Groot an affectionate nudge. The flowers on their arms multiply.

    Tony wasn’t really sure what he was doing.  Here he was, on an alien planet with a talking tree and a magical cat.  H- the grumbling of his stomach had him losing his train of thought. Right, with all the chasing and running for his life Tony forgot his main adjective, surviving the planet and getting home. 

 

~

 

    The plant life on the planet could be described as strange.  Well, strange was a nice way to put it, weird would probably describe it better.  For example, Tony had found a little plant with heart-shaped leaves that shone a bright purple with a little bulb in the middle.  Marigold didn’t seem to like them and had dragged him off before he could get a good look at them. She had pointed to a less familiar plant in a patch of sun.  It had the smallest of leaves and was the only green plant he has seen so far. That was just the beginning, by the time the sun was well high in the sky she had shown about twenty different plants that she approved of.  Arms heavy with his prizes he traveled back to camp, there Groot was tucked under the shelter fast asleep.

    Setting down the leaves gently he moved to them and watched the little tree sleep.  Tony hadn’t noticed before but their small chest didn’t move up and down. Rather their mouth pulled in air and a faint whistle could be heard coming out their cheeks, arms, and stomach.   While this was a little unsettling it was also frankly adorable. Before he could think about what he was doing, Tony raised a hand and gently ran his fingers across the small ridges on their head.  They let out a small sigh and as quick as a bullet his hand was gone, back at his chest.

    Tony coughed and averted his eyes looking towards Marigold.  The tip of her tail flicked a bit and she slowly blinked. He quickly got back to the task at hand.  Pulling out a spare notebook and pen from his suit he started to sort out the plants. It was pretty quick to do as they were pretty much grouped in their own species already.  With that done he picked up the little plant with tiny leaves and started to sketch out its shape. It didn’t take too much time and he set his pen at the top of the page. That is when he realized what exactly he could do, what power he held. 

    Many men would kill to be in the position he is in at this moment.  He had total freedom. No Jarvis to tell him the idea was dumb. No Pepper to scold him and thwack his head.  A smile slowly graced his face and he could distantly hear Marigold let out a confused “mmmrrrr?”

    He

    Could

    Name

    It

    The name of the plant was his to decide.  Tony threw back his head and laughed.

    Total power indeed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always your comments are greatly appreciated and any critics will be taken in happily. I am always looking for ways to improve my writing.


	9. Space Men Don't Die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have done it, I have finished it in a week. Hope you enjoy it!

 

    Dust hung heavy in the air making it hard to breathe.  Trucks, filled to the brim with odd technology, by the hundreds, drive back and forth on previously cleared streets.  The city seemed strangely silent as cars that would have been there are gone. People move boxes from their homes and the Avengers can be seen clearing the rubble from the sidewalks.  

    Pepper watches all of this from her office in Stark tower, taking a small break from her work.  With a small sigh, she turns back to her computer. On it are the laws of missing persons. Technically, since Tony’s bod- since Tony can’t be found they can’t claim him dead yet.  However, because of the nature of his disappearance, the US government is trying to claim him dead. It has only been a week since the alien invasion and Pepper would have thought the government would be to busy making new laws and dealing with the fact the life outside earth does exist.  

    She was, however, more concerned with the military trying to claim custody of the Iron Man suits.  So on top of her organizing the relief efforts and keeping the company afloat in the absence of its main inventor she had to convince the US government that there is a possibility that Tony may be alive.  Pretty hard when there is definitive evidence that space kills people.

    “Jarvis” She calls to the AI.  In the events after Tony’s disappearance, the AI had been quiet.  More so than usual. She had asked if there was any contact with Tony.  Jarvis had been unable to give her the answer she wanted.

    “Yes, Ms. Potts”  Somehow Jarvis managed to make his usually chipper response sound melancholy.

    “Can you bring up the specs of the suit Tony used during the battle”

    “Of course Ms. Potts”

    The blueprints popped up on a hologram on the side of her computer.  The suit looked significantly bulkier than the ones she had seen him wear previously.  People have been speculating that it was a more battle-heavy suit, but something told Pepper that wasn’t the case.

    “Jarvis explain the suit, specifically why it’s bulkier than earlier models”

    “This is suit is Mark 9 or what sir likes to call Star Flyer.  This suit as its name suggests is capable of flying and traveling through space.”

    Hearing that Pepper tears up a bit,  He wouldn’t have died in the initial entering of space.

    “Included in the suit are space safe bags of food and water comprising of all his needed nutrient needs and calorie intake.  As well as food sir also included large tanks of oxygen and nitrogen for his breathing needs. He has included heat shields and large build-ups to block against radiation in space.”

    “How long would Tony be able to last in the suit”

    “With optimal conditions, such as having sir unconscious for the first fourteen hours the total amount of time he could live in the suit is about thirty-six hours”

    Pepper slumped, it was long past that time and Tony hasn’t been reported to arriving back on earth.

    “With the limited time I had, I sent out signals through the space that Tony had entered.  Through the star positions, I observed I have deduced the location of the chitauri mothership and subsequently the place Sir would have entered into.”

    The hologram changes from the specs of Tony’s suit to a map of the Milky Way galaxy.  A red circle appears showing the earth’s location in the universe and an arrow points to a point on the opposite side of the map. 

    “The arrow is the position of the mothership,” a triangle blinks onto the map “and the triangle is the position of E23.  The closest earth like planet to the mothership. With the direction, Sir was facing and the speed he was last recorded going when entering space it is quite possible for Sir to have made it to this planet.”

    “You’re connected to the suit right?  Would it be possible to contact him?”

    “At the current technology rate, it would take around 100,000 years for you to send a message to sir”

    “So all we can do is wait?”

    “Yes Ms. Potts I’m afraid that is all we can do.”

 

~

 

    “Ms. Potts you have held this as long we can allow, do you have a significant amount of evidence to prove Dr. Stark had some way of surviving space.”

    Pepper hated the look the judge was giving her, it was a mix of pity and barely hidden superiority.  It was as if he thought she was dull and desperate in her attempts to keep Tony legally alive. Not that she didn’t fault his logic if someone went missing in space for over a week no one would think they were alive.  Still, she hated that look. She got plenty of it when doing her job, she didn’t need it here.

    Her lawyer stepped forward a stack of folders in hand.  He was a tall fellow with short cropped brown hair and his suit was expensive and crisp.  He eased the folder open and began to read out the evidence in carefully weighted sentences.  Long explanation short he was a man who knew what he was doing, one of the best in his field.

    “... from the discovery of the first Earth-like planet in 2002, there is now, to this date, a recorded 150 exoplanets capable of supporting life.  As you can see here,” The man gives the judge a copy of the Milky Way galaxy Jarvis had shown her earlier “Dr. Stark was quite close to the planet known as E23.  At the speed, he was going when entering space and with some speed boosts from the nuclear blast it is entirely possible that he could have been able to reach the planet...” 

    On the man went to explain and show the basic specs of the space suit. How, despite the damage, it would be able to survive in space.  In the end, the judge looked ready to throw in the towel, but she should have known that the man had a loophole

    “Ms. Potts has found significant evidence that Dr. Stark may be alive.  As of today’s date he has three years to appear before being declared dead.”

 

~

 

    Pepper sets up another court hearing.  Three years wasn’t enough time, he wouldn’t be able to get back in that amount of time.  How would he if he was 100,000 light years away? Would she eve- no time to think about that she had another meeting to catch.

 

~

 

    “Ms. Potts as Dr. Stark had disappeared in New York he will be governed under New York law.”

    “He is a resident of the state of California shouldn’t that be taken into consideration?”

    “State records show that his main office is in New York and that he was a resident here for the last six months”

    “...”

    They don’t change the original time delay.

 

~

 

    Pepper walks into the lobby of Stark Tower much later in the day.  She somehow wasn’t surprised to see Captain America standing there.  His hair was in disarray and she thought she could see a yellow mark on his shirt.  Either it was from his clean up or from some mustard he may of had with his lunch. He stepped closer once he spotted her and gave her a small smile.  It wasn’t that impressive, not in the way the media had described it anyway. 

    “I heard that Tony was being... Well,” He paused, not knowing what to say “I am sorry for your loss he was a gre-”  

    “Three years captain,” Pepper cut in before the man could dig himself further into his hole. “He has been given three years to turn up and knowing Dr. Stark he will show up just before his time is up.”

    He gives her a long look before turning away, he looks as if someone had given him a particularly hard task to deal with.

    “With all due respect Ms. Potts with the dangers of space I am not sure he would have,” Rogers seemed to lose the confidence he built up “lived”

    Pepper counted to ten before answering.

    “Captain how much were you informed of this situation”

    “I was told that space suits while made were quite expensive and did not look a thing like Mr. Starks suits”

    “Were you informed of the semi-recent discovery of life-supporting exoplanets?”

    “...No”

    “In 2000 Dr. Stark started funding NASA, T he National Aeronautics and Space Administration, with his help new and better telescopes, were sent to orbit the planet.  It wasn’t until 2002, however, that an Earth-like planet was found. These planets were categorized in a simple number system with earth being E1.  A planet known as E23 is close to the position Dr. Stark had exited the portal. As for his survival in space, Tony is very capable of making an Iron Man suit into a space suit.”

    Pepper stepped away from Rogers and towards the elevator.  Jarvis opened the door for her, but before she stepped inside she turned her head to face him.

    “Please research captain before you come to a conclusion.  Assuming makes an ass out of you and me”.

    With that, the doors closed and she leaned against the wall.  Tears blurred her vision and her heart sunk in her chest. 100,000 light years away, she has no idea if Tony is alive.  For all, she knows the captain could be right. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am well aware that Tony, in canon, has a space suit. It has the name mark 39 and overall is a very cool suit. I didn't use it for several reasons though. One of them being Tony created the spacesuit much earlier than canon. He hadn't made the 30+ suits yet and wouldn't have the experience to make that exact suit. Hence different suit.   
> Please as always comment if you noticed any grammar mistakes or plot inconsistencies. Your comments only improve my story and I can't wait to hear them.  
> Have a good rest of your day and I hope your feet are not killing you as mine has in the last few weeks!


	10. Unexpected Yes, Unwanted Maybe Not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience through the long hiatus. The next chapter will not take as long as this one did.

Tony was dying. His insides to his mouth were burning greatly and it wouldn’t stop. It was if he had put a sun in his mouth and it made his body ache for a cold glass of water the size of New York City itself. He immediately spat out the raw leaf and as if it hadn’t been there at all the sensation disappeared. The leaf faded from bright red back to the mockingly cheerful yellow that it had been before he had stuck it in his mouth.   
“It must have been my saliva, the previous tests had me believing that the leaf had been safe to try.”  
Tony noted this in his notebook. Scratching out the previous name he wrote down in favor for the much more appropriate ‘sun vine’ in its place. Setting down the notebook he looked back at the plant he had dissected and sorted. The only part of the plant he could feel safe eating was the vine, while slightly spicy it hadn’t tried to kill him. He spat the saliva that built up in his mouth onto the ground.   
Besides the burning mouth, however, Tony was happy about the results. A surprising twenty out of thirty plants he had gathered had some part of it that was edible. He would have to go back later to test if cooking parts of the organic material would make it safer for him or tastier to eat. Right now, though, he wants to take care of something that has been bothering him the last few days.  
From the outside, it didn’t look as if his arc reactor was broken only the periodically blinking light and racing heart alluded to a problem within. In fact, many of the arcs connected to his suit were also seeming to have issues. Maybe it had been the trip through the portal. Who knows what kind of energy had been coming off of that thing. It could be the reason JARVIS was offline. He would still like to check the arc reactor and sadly there was only one way to properly do it. Stepping away from the plant material Tony pulled off his shirt and released the mechanism that keeps the Biotech suit tight against his skin. It loosened and he slid the material off his shoulders. The area around his arc reactor looked slightly aggravated and the scars seemed to puff out more than usual. He lightly tapped the surrounding skin and was relieved to find that it wasn’t running hotter than it should.  
“I am Groot?” Tony jumped and looked down. Groot was standing at his feet looking very concerned.  
“It’s fine buddy, just an old injury that is bothering me a bit”  
Groot tugged one of his hands and Tony obligingly sat down. The small being was hesitant at first slowly extending a hand to his chest. Tony tried to keep himself from flinching when it made contact. The touch was feather light as they traced the scars over and over again. Groot looked back up, their eyes ran with tears.   
“I am Groot!”  
“It looks worse than it feels don’t worry”  
Tony gently pushed Groot off his lap and turned around. Looking back he gave them a serious face.  
“Don’t look, okay?”  
Quickly before he stopped himself he reached up and twisted the arc. With careful hands, he slowly pulled it out making sure to keep every wire connected to his chest. Once he was in the clear he set about examining it. At first glance he didn’t see anything wrong, it was only when he looked in the glass did he find the problem. The vibranium core was cracked, how he wasn’t sure as it was supposed to be one of the strongest materials in the world. This was a fix that was more delicate that he could manage at the moment. He only had the bare minimum of tools to work with this type of repair was too dangerous to attempt.  
Sighing Tony placed the reactor back in. In even worse news Groot hadn’t listened to him and was standing in front of him open-mouthed. Tears silently ran down their wooden cheeks and as they meet Tony’s eyes he couldn’t help but look away. He knew it wasn’t the prettiest thing and now he has traumatized a child. However, before Tony could begin to even try to explain the injury Groot had turned and ran into the woods never looking back.

~

Groot needs to find Rocket. Their human is hurt, they don’t care that it is an old injury. Old injuries shouldn’t be still hurting the inflicted. Rocket fixes things, he can fix anything if he cares about it enough. Groot isn’t an expert on machines but the thing that the human pulled out of his chest was definitely a machine. Groot would make Rocket care about it.

~

They couldn’t find Rocket. The jungle was huge and by the time it became dark and cold they were thoroughly lost. Groot let out a cry and sat down to hug their knees. Why did they think they could help their new human anyway. They are small and tiny, not the big Groot that could have found Rocket easily. The big Groot who could pick up the silly human and take him back to the ship. The big Groot who knew what to do all the time.  
Rocket had said not to worry about it. They tried to but in moments like these, it was impossible for them to not see how small they really are. They wish they knew how to build and fix machines, maybe then they would have been able to fix the human. They would never have gotten lost because they would have no reason to need to find Rocket. Groot wishes they didn’t need Rocket.  
…  
…  
Groot MISSES Rocket.  
…  
…  
Groot needs Rocket.   
But Rocket isn’t here, and they are lost. They let out another wail and press their face further into their tiny knees. Rocket was probably made at them anyway. He wouldn’t help them because they ran away. Groot wouldn’t want to help themselves either.  
They weren’t aware of their human approaching them until they felt a careful hand on their back. Looking up they saw the human, face worried and sad. This caused more tears to run down their face, they didn’t mean to make the human sad. They just wanted to help. They didn’t listen to the human when he said don’t look and now he was going to be mad at Groot too.   
They waited for the human to scold them, say they were disappointed. The human didn’t do any of these things. They just huffed out a small breath that Peter had called a ‘sigh’ and picked Groot up. They were tucked against the man’s chest and a finger slowly rubbed their back as he walked.  
“I don’t know what you were trying to do,” the human looked very unsure of himself “but whatever it is I’m not mad. Were you scared?”  
The human stopped there, waiting for their response. Groot nodded into his chest.  
“Well you don’t need to worry, the thing that is bothering me, I’m going to fix it. It shouldn’t be bothering me more than a week...”  
Despite the funny words and the continued babble Groot felt a little better. Maybe it was for the best that they were small, after all, Groot wouldn’t have met this human if they were big. They would just have to wait, just a touch longer. Rocket always found them, even when they were big.

~

It was a while before Tony noticed that Groot had fallen asleep, he stopped his tangent. Really he had no idea what he was doing. When Groot had run off it had scared him and wasn’t that a surprise. He didn’t know that he came to care for them in the little time he got to know them. From the little that he got from their personality, Tony would guess they were a child around the five to six mentality. Which worried him more. Not only was a child running around without their parent, but their guardian was also probably looking for them. He could only hope they were grateful, not mad, that he found their kid.  
Maybe he shouldn’t have let the kid run off. He felt guilty thinking about it. The woods were very dangerous and no place for a kid to be running around by themselves. He would have gotten an earful from Pepper from that one. Thinking about her made his heart sink. He hoped that him disappearing didn’t give her to much stress. It was bad enough when he disappeared for three months. He had a vague idea on how far he was from Earth, here's hoping that technology in space was advanced. Without it, he may never get home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopeful you enjoyed the chapter. Please comment if you notice anything that is off. I am looking to improve my writing and any criticism is appreciated.


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